Griffin/Saunders Family of Knocknaboley Wicklow

In the Rental List for the Coolatin estate, MS 6069 in the NLI, a footnote at the end of the book lists the undertenants of Mary Coates farm on Knocknaboley Wicklow. Andrew Saunders was one of the names on the list. The Coates had a major lease from the estate for at least 70 years which covered much of Knocknaboley townland. Many families worked for the Coates but their names would never appear in the Coolatin records, so it is fortunate to have this record. It shows that many of the future lessees of Knocknaboley were actually undertenants before they were granted leases in the 1805-1809 rewrites of leases. It is not clear how long Andrew had lived on the estate before 1800. By 1803 Mary Coates had died and William Hannan assumed part of her old lease on Knocknaboley. Another NLI manuscript MS 6071 contains a list of the 1803-04 undertenants of William Hannan in which Andrew Saunders is shown to farm about 4 Irish acres on Knocknaboley.

Address: GPS coordinates 52.851910, -6.513071

The coordinates of the easternmost point of Andrew Saunders farm. His farm stretched basically wsw from that point.

By 1805 Andrew Saunders had a lease for 12 Irish acres on the Coolatin estate. It was good for the life of his son James, age 14 in 1805. His name appears in the yearly rental books for another 40 years. Evidently Andrew was alive in 1824 but was possibly dead by 1827 according to the Tithe Applotment and the Coolatin Tenants census of 1827. The 1840 townland map from the Coolatin Estate shows that James Saunders lived on lots 176-183 on the NW side of Knocknaboley. The lots form a thin strip across the west side of Knocknaboley, totaling 14 Irish acres.

As was common on Irish Estates, the Coolatin Estate had a formal, traditional system to grant leases to tenants. Before 1800, most of the leases appeared to be for 'middle class' tenants who sublet the properties to poorer, probably less educated undertenants. Knocknaboley had only 2 tenants for many years in the 1700s and only 3 tenants for the years 1770 through 1800. About that time some of the land, mainly the Coates lease, were split up and assigned to new tenants with smaller plots. One of the new lessees was Andrew Saunders who had been an undertenant on the Coates farm before that.

The lease is important in that it states that the lease was based on the life of James Saunders, Andrews oldest son, and it gives his age as 14.

Andrew Saunders' name remained in the Rental Book long after he died. From 1845 to 1855 his entry was labeled 'Andrew Saunders Exors'. In 1855 the entry still read 'Saunders, Andrew Exors now John Griffin taken out for part of the lands of Knocknaboley..\" (MS 6109)

The image: A remnant of the Probate Index for Ireland shows Andrew Saunders had died by 1828 found on findmypast.ie. The original probate records were destroyed in 1922. Andrew Saunders, Year 1828, Knockneboly, Wicklow Diocese Prerogative Court Record set Ireland Diocesan And Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes 1595-1858 Category Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers) Subcategory Wills & probate Collections from Ireland, copyright Findmypast

In 1827 the Coolatin Estate records show that James Saunders was farming the Andrew Saunders farm. However, it wasn't until the 1840s that the phrase Andrew Saunders (Executors) showed up in the Rental records. It is possible that Andrew had turned over his farm to James and did not die until much later.

Records in the NLI show that in 1827 Andrew does not appear in a list of residents of his own lease, but his son James and son-in-law Michael Collins do. This is evidence that Andrew had died by 1827, but the reference to John Griffin Exors did not appear in the Rental Books until 1845.

By 1844 the Saunders lease was turned over to John Griffin, one of the other Griffin men who lived in Knocknaboley. He was not our ancestor but may have been related. The relationship of the Griffin men living in Knocknaboley in 1810 (old John and Richard) is not known. Old John, our ancestor, was in Knocknaboley before 1780, but Richard did not appear until after 1800. As part of the Griffiths Census, government census takers identified and described tenant homes in Ireland. The description of the former home of Andrew Saunders is included in the House Books. John Griffin , living in the Saunders former home in the 1840s, was probably the son of Richard Griffin.

MS 6100 Rents 1845-46. Knocknaboley. Andrew Saunders Exors. 4.2.12. ... Allow Griffin to purchase this holding at 20 pounds ...